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The Marriage Plot

Jeffrey Eugenides

Start date: March 15, 2012

Finish date: April 1, 2012

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What Members Thought

Jan 11, 2012 Roy rated it really liked it

Girl likes boy. Girl likes other boy as well. Both boys like her. Which one will she choose? Which one should she choose? If she chooses wrong does she get a re-do? That's my simple synopsis of an uncomplicated story (nothing at all complicated about love no matter how much trouble it somehow manages to cause) that is interesting and compelling and wonderfully written. ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Katie Kenig rated it really liked it

Shelves: general-fiction

The marriage plot is a literary device that was used often in fiction written in an earlier era. In Austen, for example, a woman's entire future might turn on her choice of a husband, as well as the fate of her family. In The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides takes on the idea of the device of the marriage plot as it might occur in the modern era. Or, near modern as it were, since the novel takes place in 1982. That might be the modern era to Eugenides, but I don't recall much of that year being The marriage plot is a literary device that was used often in fiction written in an earlier era. In Austen, for example, a woman's entire future might turn on her choice of a husband, as well as the fate of her family. In The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides takes on the idea of the device of the marriage plot as it might occur in the modern era. Or, near modern as it were, since the novel takes place in 1982. That might be the modern era to Eugenides, but I don't recall much of that year being as it was a part of my childhood. In fact, I was tempted to mark this book as historical fiction.

I had a harder time getting into this book than I have had with previous books by this author. I just found myself not relating to any of the characters in the beginning. Madeleine seemed like a spoiled rich girl who was rude to her parents and took her friends for granted. Okay, she didn't just seem that way, she actually was that way, and I didn't like her. But I wasn't such a great person when I was college-aged either, and I was pretty curious about Mitchell, and later Leonard, who became the two male forces in her life.

Madeline is largely oblivious to the feelings of the more obviously "better" choice among the two, and is oblivious by choice to the problems of the more troublesome choice. Like many women, when trouble starts to surface, she sticks her head in the sand and holds tight to her infatuation, while the love of a friend pulses in the background of her life, even as he does his best to distance himself from her, both emotionally and geographically.

The post-college lives of the three are interesting, almost iconic for the era in which they lived. I was tickled by some of the music references, which I remembered my parents and older cousins listening to back then. The political and cultural climate seemed to be right on target, as far as I could recall, though as I said, my memories from that particular time are a little hazy due to my age.

I grew to care more and more about Madeleine as time went by and I got to know her better. It was one of those rare moments in fiction where a character becomes like a friend. I understood her motivations, I figured out why she acted the way she did toward her parents, and why she needed to "save" the man she loved. I came to understand her innocence, rather than her spoilage, was behind some of her behaviour and I came to like her. That made the second half of the book a much, much faster read than the first and much more enjoyable. If you're having the issue of not liking or understanding Madeleine at first, I urge you to keep reading. The payoff in the lovely, fascinating, sad ending of the book is very much worth it.

I really enjoyed this book, though I dropped one star from the rating because of not having as good of a time with the very beginning. Still, it's a very well-written literary novel with a unique take on an age-old plot. ...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Jen C. rated it really liked it

I read Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides long enough ago (and I have a bad enough memory for the details of books) that I didn't read The Marriage Plot as a comparison point. One fellow-goodreader described the main characters in this book as "flawed," and that seems perfect to me. The characters Eugenides follows through their college years and early 20s start off imperfect, go on journeys that are mythical and wholly modern, internal and external, and end up flawed, but with more knowledge and ...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Carra rated it really liked it

I really liked this book. I would have liked a different ending, but I think the author stayed true to real life and ended the book in a way that isn't as predictable as some would expect.

I do think it's funny that everyone claims that Eugenides is a revolutionary author because he broaches topics that others steer clear of; yet, if a woman were to discuss the same topics, she'd be considered a whore. Interesting. Jennifer Weiner is always right. Very Franzen-esque. ...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Donna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

I listened to the audiobook version of this, and I had to get through several CDs before I found a character I could like. Thank goodness for Mitchell. I did love the ending.

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